


Aberration

by Necromancer_Anubis



Category: Naruto
Genre: Massively AU, Multi, Other, Sakura Centric, point of divergence at forest of death
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-18
Updated: 2019-07-13
Packaged: 2020-01-16 03:44:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 7,572
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18513214
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Necromancer_Anubis/pseuds/Necromancer_Anubis
Summary: Sakura-centric. Sakura realizes that she is the only thing that stands between her team and death in the forest of death during the second stage of the chūnin exams. She changes, but not in the way most people are expecting.





	1. Aberration

All it takes is an aberration. A single change can impact an entire life time’s worth of experience. And such a change—every bit of it could be classified into neat little boxes—good, bad, neutral— and as she squared her shoulders, she didn’t care. She didn’t care how or why she changed from the person she was years ago—only that she progressed, that she was better, stronger—as hard as a diamond compared to her delicate, younger self. She just had to get through this battle and all would be well. All would be right. All she had to do was win.

 

_____________

 

Sakura’s vision swam. The sound-nin’s attacks were getting to her. As it was, she could barely stand. First it was that Orochimaru, and now this. She knew Sasuke was too injured to be back-up, and that Naruto was out, too. She was alone and she had to do something, anything to save herself and her team. Kin’s grip on her hair was hard—it hurt more than the sick feeling from the many jutsu she’d weathered.

 

Her eyes hardened from spring green to emerald, and she reached into her kunai holster for a single kunai. She didn’t have many left and she hated that she hadn’t packed more. She chuckled slightly to herself. She had to get free of Kin—and she knew the other girl was right. She was a pitiful shinobi. That would change if she could live long enough to see another day. Her chakra was low—her output wouldn’t be enough to save them, but she hoped she could. She was smart.

 

The kunai cut through her hair like a hot knife through butter and she smirked as she drove her kunai into Kin’s heart. She twisted it for good measure and yanked it out, panting hard. She must look a mess, covered in blood, enemies and her own and she gave a loud cry as she launched herself at the bandaged sound nin. He was shocked at the corpse his teammate, his visible eye wide and his body rigid. Sakura used it to her advantage, driving the kunai into his open eye.

 

“Hey bitch—!!” The other one yelled, and she felt herself slammed into a tree,his wind jutsu knocking her into a bastardized version of a somersault, and she lost her grip on the kunai. It slid somewhere into the brush and she pulled out the rest of her shuriken. Maybe—just maybe—this would work. She formed the seals to her clones and was only able to form one. She didn’t notice Sasuke waking—she didn’t notice him move.

 

“Give it up, girl. You’re gonna die anyway—!” And then Sasuke was on him, the black curse-mark crawling over his skin.. and then Sasuke broke his arms. The snap sickened her more than the feel of Kin going slack underneath her kunai, “Sasuke—stop—!”

 

She let the shuriken go and threw herself at him. “Please stop.. please”. It was a soft plea, and she was disgusted at herself to feel tears in her eyes. And when Sasuke collapsed, she did too. She was so tired.. exhausted.. but she had to make sure they were safe...

 

And she finally realized team 8 was there.. and so was the remainder of team 10. Her face paled. How long had they been there? How long had they been watching? Judging by the look on Ino’s face, she’d been there way too long for Sakura’s comfort. 

 

“H-hey forehead girl! Lemme fix your hair!” She called. Sakura ignored her stutter and gave a cheery smile, “Sure!” And she stood on her jelly legs to go to Ino. She couldn’t even derive any joy from being able to hug Sasuke. She swallowed and suffered through Ino’s jealousy, watched Neji and Tenten attend to Lee’s wounds and she finally laughed when Naruto awoke, threatening Orochimaru. He was always behind, it seemed.

 

They were guided to a small stream where Sasuke and Naruto caught fish, it was cooked and Sakura was finally able to clean herself from the dried blood. She didn’t think she would ever be able to forget it’s smell or feel underneath her fingernails. “Hey SAKURA! Wanna do first shift tonight?”

 

She was exhausted.. but.. “Fine, Naruto, but I need to sleep.” They were getting short on time to get to the middle of the forest and at least after this, she could rest.

 

Finally, her shift was over, and she was able to sleep. In her dreams, she killed Kin over and over again and when she woke, she was panting, panicked and still exhausted. But at least she rested some.On the way to the tower, they managed to snag a heaven scroll due to Kabuto’s interference and when they made it to the tower, Sakura was happy to find out they would be able to rest for the duration.

 

Finally. She fell asleep with little preamble, and finally woke when Naruto shook her awake. Apparently they had to participate in a ceremony? She didn’t care.


	2. The Preliminaries Begin!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sakura comes to terms with a few things about what happened in the forest of death and the preliminaries begin!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soo! I’m so happy you all are enjoying reading! I really enjoy reading all your comments and I never imagined the amount of kudos I would get!
> 
> Happy Reading!

When Sakura woke up the next day, she was still exhausted and she rolled out of the bed. Knowing that they would have something else coming at them and she thought to herself ‘I’m going to do what I need to get us out of this’. She was hard as steel, her emerald eyes dark with conviction. “Sakura-chan! Sakura-chan!” She turned, rolling her eyes at Naruto’s enthusiasm. “I get it, Naruto.” It was an annoyed grumble.

 

Sasuke was still hurt, she was still utterly exhausted—but Naruto—he was perfectly fine. She envied his ability to recover easily and she sighed. In that moment, an announcement caught her attention over Naruto’s ramblings, “Would all chūnin exam applicants come to the entrance chamber?” A muffled cough broke through at the end but it was quickly stifled.

 

“YEAH, LET’S GO SAKURA-CHAN!” She sighed again and let Naruto lead her—and Sasuke by extension to the room they first arrived in. Her eyes analytically catalogued everyone—there were some people she expected to see.. and others, she didn’t. It seemed like Ino’s team barely made it—and there was that Oto-nin team.

 

She looked contemptuously at them and then looked away. Maybe she would be able to get revenge on them, since Orochimaru was no where around. She would settle for them if he wasn’t available—and as the new proctor explained what was going on, her lips twisted into a feral grin. By the gods, they were going to get it.. not that she was particularly powerful, but because she would be determined.

 

At least she would be able to at least injure them—she did almost raise her hand to have Sasuke removed—to speak to someone about Orochimaru—but a single look silenced those protests. Both of them had something to prove this time and Sakura wouldn’t be letting either of her teammates get in her way—even if that teammate was Sasuke. 

 

It was only their luck that Sasuke was chosen first, and the rest of them shuffled up into the stands, intent on watching Sasuke go up against a no-name shinobi from Kabuto’s squad. Sakura’s eyes narrowed—something didn’t seem right.. and soon enough, Sasuke was on the ground, exhausted, fighting someone that was stealing his chakra. “SASUKE, DON’T YOU DARE LOSE TO HIM”, she screamed, half-leaning over the railing. 

 

And that’s when Sasuke’s sharingan activated, and he kicked the other nin into the air, landing several sharp kicks to him on the way down. “That was Lee’s move..” she noted to herself.. and then she heard Lee intone from behind her, “The sharingan, or copy eye, can do that!” 

 

She turned, “Lee! Are you okay?” She hadn’t got the chance to check on him after the entire debacle in the forest of death and it was oddly comforting to see that wide-toothed grin even if the shine did threaten to give her a migraine. “Sakura-chan! I am more than okay!” He gave a thumbs- up and Sakura rolled her eyes at him.

 

“Sakura-chaaan stop talking to fuzzy-brows!!” Naruto whined, “Look—“ he was pointing at the screen. Shino.. fighting the sound-nin. Hah. Shino didn’t take it easy on him, but he wasn’t quite as vicious as Sakura wanted him to be, either. She sighed.. at least it wouldn’t take too long for this entire thing to be over.

 

The fight between Kankurou and Misumi was interesting. She would have to look into that type of ninjutsu. She didn’t have physical strength, but she was good at strategy.. at least when Sasuke wasn’t involved. She would have to change that. She briefly laughed at something Lee said—and then Kakashi was at her shoulder, pointing out that she was next on the list. Against Ino.

 

She adjusted her dress and then jumped over the railing with a small amount of chakra, easily sticking the landing. It took Ino a few moments more to get downstairs.. and she looked at her oldest childhood friend. That she gave up.. for Sasuke. But she had to win, so she determinedly squared her shoulders.


	3. A Sakura Tree

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sakura fights Ino in the preliminaries of the final Chūnin Exam.

Sakura squared her shoulders and did her best to look intimidating— or at least as intimidating as a girl with pink hair could be. She remembered the pact she made with Ino, the fact that their bond was broken by her just for Sasuke. She regretted that now, but she couldn’t change it. Maybe after the Chūnin Exam, they could be friends again, but she didn’t think that could happen. Not yet, anyway. Her hands were steady as she untied the forehead protector from her hair and repositioned it on her head. Maybe Ino would get the hint—and she did, answering Sakura’s initial challenge with one of her own. “Heh, that headband is still too small to cover your forehead, forehead girl!”

 

“I’d be careful with what you say, Ino-pig! You’re just jealous because I got Sasuke!” Sakura dropped down in position and readied herself for Ino’s onslaught of taijutsu..

 

She ducked and weaved, getting caught by a punch to her stomach because she was too slow. She then used chakra to give some form of distance between her and Ino—she would never win a straight taijutsu fight with the other girl just because she hadn’t trained as much with taijutsu.. and starved herself from the nutrition she needed to build muscle. So she would have to play it smart. Smarter than Ino, anyway. Her fingers smoothly formed the seals for a set of shadow clones, three would be enough, she thought as they armed themselves with a few shuriken and kunai. Sakura planned to get close enough to Ino to cast a small genjutsu—one that they had been taught in the academy. It would buy her some time to incapacitate Ino...

 

But Ino wasn’t having any of Sakura’s planning. She knew Sakura was best when she had a plan—when she could analyze and break apart an opponent and that was why she rushed her, punching through the first clone only for Sakura to jump back, her mouth drawn into a small frown. Ino was fighting on her turf now—and so, she fell into line with her clones, quickly switching positions with them as they approached Ino. As much as Ino dodged and weaved, Sakura was losing stamina fast—and so she molded the signs for her jutsu and tapped Ino on the shoulder with two of her fingers, cementing the genjutsu to Ino alone. It was one that was simple, but effective.

 

It would change Ino’s perceptions, make her aim off and generally mess with her ability to judge distances. To distract Ino from the fact that she just tapped her shoulder, she threw the shuriken, and Ino stumbled into them. “Forehead girl! Stop with your tricks!” It was an annoyed screech. Sakura had Ino where she wanted her, annoyed, brash and ready to make mistakes.

 

“Sasuke likes my tricks,” Sakura added, “And my traps.” She didn’t know if he did, but she knew that was how to rile Ino up—-and it did, “YOU THINK SASUKE LIKES YOU NOW? THAT YOUR SHORT HAIRED BILLBOARD BROW IS ATTRACTIVE?” She heaved in a breath and yanked her hair down furiously. Sakura took a deep breath in when Ino furiously snagged a kunai out of her holster and cut off her hair and threw it around both of them.

 

Both kunoichi panted, and Ino forged a sign to her mind transfer jutsu and flopped to the ground, motionless. Sakura tried to move.. but found she couldn’t. Ino gave a triumphant screech as she sat up, one hand on the hair around her, which was quickly replaced by her foot—and as she stood, she smirked. “I got you, forehead girl.” Sakura cursed herself for being so cocky that she didn’t notice Ino’s chakra traveling though her hair, holding her in place.. now, she was trapped, ready for the real body transfer technique.. but.. she had to get free somehow. And that’s when the idea hit her—she could hear Naruto screaming in the stands—she had to disrupt the technique or the chakra around her legs.

 

She could still move her hands. She had a handful of kunai, shuriken.. and paper bombs. She ignored Ino’s gloating, her speech, and she reached into her shuriken holster, drew the shuriken and the paper bombs—and threw them into the middle of the chakra strings made of hair. Instantly, it exploded and the force of it was enough to snap her against the other wall. Her vision swam and her head pounded as she forced herself forward. She was going to win this once and for all, she decided— and with a punch reinforced with as much chakra as she could muster, she slammed it into Ino’s ribs. She heard a crack—but she felt a stinging and looked down.

 

Three kunai were embedded into her body—one in her right shoulder, one in her left knee and on in between her ribs. She jumped back, coughing blood. Her vision swam again—she wanted to throw up. That was when she realized that Ino wasn’t moving anymore.. she did it. She won—and she sunk to her knees, holding her side as the proctor announced the winner just before her vision went black.

 

She could remember Ino—telling her that she would be an even prettier flower than a cosmos—no, she was going to be a Sakura tree, rooted to the ground, forever blooming year after year. No one would take that from her or tell her otherwise.


	4. Rest & Recuperation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Sakura finally wakes, she has a few interesting conversations that lead to possible solutions.

When Sakura woke, she pried her eyes open and nearly cringed at the bright sunlight that was streaming in through the hospital’s window. Her breathing was.. shallow. Her brain wracked itself trying to come up with why—and how—and that was when she remembered the Chūnin exams, and the preliminary fights.

 

Her fight with Ino..

 

“Ah! Haruno-san!” Sakura’s head snapped over to the nurse—at least that was who she thought it was—and she winced. Damn.. that hurt. She would have to be more careful when fighting in the future. She wasn’t Naruto..

 

“You should be more careful in the future, Haruno-san. We are treating you for a severe concussion, an eardrum rupture, a punctured lung and multiple stab wounds.” Was that all? Sakura wanted to ask how long she would be there but judging by the nurse’s face.. her injuries were severe. “My name is Hitomi, and I'm the practicing doctor here. It took quite a bit of work to start your treatment but you’ll be done and ready to star in your Chūnin Exam finals!” 

 

“So I.. passed?”

 

She could barely remember it. “Yes!” The doctor’s smile was warm and wide—and she smiled back. But.. where were Sasuke and Naruto? Kakashi-sensei? “Has anyone come to visit me?” She asked.

 

The doctor tilted her head to the side. “A man in a green spandex jumpsuit, a girl with blonde hair.. a boy in an orange jumpsuit.. that’s about it! They’ll be happy to know you’re awake and recovering.” 

 

Sakura wanted to lie to herself and say that it didn’t hurt—but it did. Kakashi-sensei and Sasuke both skipped out on visiting her. Well, she expected it out of Sasuke.. but Kakashi-sensei? Why..? Who would she be able to get information about the other winners from? If not from them.. Naruto wouldn’t remember enough, at least statistically to help. But Lee? She said man.. not boy. Did that mean that Lee was injured? She had the feeling that he would have been there if he could.. so what happened to him?  “Ah.. thank you..” Sakura murmured.

 

“You’ll be out and about in a couple days, you can catch up with everyone then.. just focus on resting right now, okay?” 

 

“Okay! Thank you!” That made Sakura feel at least a little better.. even if it made her worry for Lee and for the rest of them. And.. if the Chunin Exam Finals were a big thing.. and there were people stronger than Ino in them... she sighed. She would have to practice and learn—and fast if she were going to have half a chance at succeeding in becoming a Chūnin. At least this time she took the exams.. If she were honest with herself, she didn’t think she was ready to become a Chunin. She didn’t think that any of her friends were ready to become Chūnin.. so why were they all..? Did they just want to prove themselves? Did they just--and the questions swirled in her mind, driven by anxiety. She had something to prove--coming from a no-name shinobi placed on a team with Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha...she had to be just as good as them--at least just good enough to have their backs if they needed it. She sighed. She would have to visit the library--maybe try to find Kakashi-sensei and have him train her? There wasn’t really anyone else she could go to.

 

Maybe Iruka-sensei? No.. he would probably be too busy with Naruto. 

 

Regardless, Sakura had to get better--and she was exhausted..maybe she could go back to sleep. Her mind wandered, her brain went fuzzy and she started dozing. She couldn’t recall her dream, but when she woke, Gai-sensei was at her bedside. It startled her enough to make her jump, and she said, “Gai-sensei! What are you doing here?” And where was Lee, of all people? He would usually be relishing spending time with her, hour upon hour. This...was bad--at least judging by the look on Gai-sensei’s face.

 

“Lee was most youthful in his exam and...now requires extensive surgery.” His eyes were serious, dark with intent. “Sakura-chan, it’s most youthful for you both to give your all in the preliminaries..but the price it has is serious. Lee knew that--and I gave him the go ahead.” 

 

Sakura’s eyes widened, “So Lee is.. Hurt? What happened?”

 

“He fought one of the sound genin--his name was Gaara--the one that could control sand. He lost. However, Sakura-chan! This is the time for one of your youthful lessons! Being youthful is acknowledging your risks when you take them! Make sure you do so in the future. I’d hate to see such a beautiful cherry blossom wilt because she bloomed too early and stayed in the sun for too long.”

 

He patted her shoulder and stood. However-- “Gai-sensei! Where is Kakashi-sensei?”

 

He tilted his head and Sakura wasn’t able to catch his expression--but-- “Kakashi is training Sasuke in a remote location. No one knows..”

 

“What am I supposed to do for the exams--?” It exploded from her, and she sat up with the force of her own words.

 

“Kakashi didn’t give anyone word of getting a teacher for you..I do know he got one for Naruto-kun, but… I’ll see what I can do for you, Sakura-chan. Don’t worry, we’ll have your youthful spirit burning bright before the Chunin exams!”

 

It burned her to know that she was left out--that they hadn’t planned for her to make it this far. But...she would use it to make her stronger. She would use it to fuel her. Whoever Gai-sensei was going to get for her, she would make the best of it. “Don’t worry! Let the flames of your youth burn bright!” And then he was gone, closing the door behind him. The rest of the day went slowly--having to deal with Ino coming in sporadic bursts--as well as Shikamaru, of all people. At least playing board games with him was challenging and fun...


	5. Surprises & Planning

Over the next few days Sakura was so bored. All she did was sleep, eat, sometimes play Shogi or Go with Shikamaru, listen to Ino whine all day because she was beaten..and then on the last day of her hospital stay, she woke up to the crazy exam proctor staring at her. Her eyes narrowed and she sat up a little straighter. She clearly remembered the weird face the proctor had after tasting blood..even if she did look a little more pale than then.. Well, Sakura didn’t care. 

 

“What are you doing here?”  Sakura’s eyes narrowed and she looked at Anko almost suspiciously.

 

“A little birdie told me that you needed a teacher for the Chunin Exam finals,” The smirk on the woman’s face was knowing--and Sakura sighed. Why her? Why this person? Just..why? She had imagined Gai sensei finding someone else, but… well, she couldn’t exactly be choosy. And if Gai-sensei thought that she would be the best one to teach her, she couldn’t fault him. As long as she had a teacher--and Gai-sensei technically did get her a teacher...it would be ungrateful of her to refuse, right? And she needed all the help she could get. 

  
  


“Yeah, I guess,” She acknowledged, and then asked plainly, “You’re not going to try to drink my blood too, are you?”

 

And that was when Anko tipped her head up and laughed and smacked Sakura hard enough on the shoulder to make her wince. “You’re gonna be the best student.” The look on Sakura’s face only made Anko laugh harder. 

 

Sakura wasn’t sure whether she liked that or not, but Anko continued talking. “You’re supposed to be released today and put on light exercise for about two more days, and then you’re cleared for the good shit.” Anko’s smile was definitely predatory and Sakura was already internally screaming at what she would have to do. “Let’s talk about your performance in the prelims.”

 

Sakura watched the woman carefully as Anko rattled off her opinion of her skills-- “You were decent with your chakra control--enough to kinda reverse engineer Tsunade-hime’s strength, even if it was slight..and yeah, you were persistent, and analytical or whatever, but you didn’t have the strength or stamina to really keep up. The only reason why you won was because you were able to think quickly. In the next match you won’t be able to do as well. ‘Cause you know, your competition saw your fight and you didn’t see theirs.”

 

Anko smiled cheerily, “Lucky I got the transcripts of those fights from Gai-sensei, huh?” She tossed a small stack of papers at Sakura on the bed, “Read them and come up with a plan for each one you’re gonna fight. Meet me in three days at the academy training grounds...I mean if you’re gonna fight like you’re comin’ from the academy...might as well teach you there!”

 

Sakura glared at her...and Anko left, whistling cheerily. 

 

What the hell was wrong with that woman??? She hated her so much--whether it be because she was eccentric or whether she was annoying or bloodthirsty or because she reminded her vaguely of Orochimaru---ugh! What luck she had.  Regardless...Sakura didn’t get to see the fights, but she had Gai-sensei’s files right here..

 

And she had a pen. So it was time to get a strategy for each and every one. Regardless, her training would change how she would fight them, but it was still good to at least make an effort for it. She didn’t want to disappoint her new sensei, right? That wouldn’t be a good thing--she shuddered. She might decide to cut her open and drink her blood like a vampire!

 

It didn’t take very long for Sakura to make a general plan for each person that passed the preliminaries--even Naruto and Sasuke. She left them generally vague for the time being, making notes that she would come back and flesh them out later, when she was done with her training. However..she knew that would be a very long time. And thus, it didn’t take too long after that for her to be released from the hospital, and she was happy to be out.

 

She took the rest of the day to herself, looking around, finding a small shop that sold tempura chicken out of a stall and found herself in the library, looking up how to plan meals. She couldn’t really starve herself anymore, right? She had to start taking care of herself in preparation. Damn it--she hated that she focused more on finding a boyfriend--Sasuke-- to even put thought into herself as a kunoichi--and she looked up something on Tsunade. Anko mentioned something about her super-strength.

 

Sakura checked out a few books on them, chakra theory and meal plans and went back home to peruse them in her own time. She finally fell asleep, not feeling accomplished, but irritated at herself for ignoring her training for so long. She had a lot to make up for and a lot to re-learn. She had a lot to do...but at least she wasn’t really doing it alone. Even if she did have the snake-lady from the start of the second part of the exam as her new teacher. She had to be better than having nobody, right?


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sakura starts learning a few new things and starts making steps to make herself a better shinobi.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I want to thank everyone for the encouraging reviews! I also want to say that all the questions that have been asked will be answered in story in time. I don't want to spoil anything ;)

While Sakura couldn’t do much physically she did focus on her chakra control. She found a small lake by one of the training grounds and managed to stand on the surface for a solid 5 minutes, but Sakura didn’t think that was enough. Going by the fight with Zabuza and Kakshi-sensei---their fight had lasted at least 30 minutes to an hour..she was woefully behind. At the same time, she knew that she couldn’t push herself too hard just coming out of the hospital.. 

 

She ended up throwing out most of her dresses, having come to the realization that they were impractical in a battle setting. Wearing them looked nice, but knowing that someone could use it to their advantage that she would be weighed down by them… the dresses were nice, made of heavy fabric that wouldn’t tear easily, but still. She had to compensate somehow. It wasn’t hard to find a new style--she liked red, but it was very...eye-catching. She was a ninja, right? Her pink hair was giveaway enough, she didn’t need another bright color to wear. Maybe something more muted? She ended up finding a form-fitting dusty rose shirt that had some reinforcement.. But it was strapless.

 

It was rather expensive, too, but her parents let her save her mission pay, so she had more than enough for a couple new outfits.

 

Now, for either a skirt or capri to match..and maybe some gloves or arm guards? Some shin guards? Maybe a new tactical belt, too. She would have to buy some more kunai and shuriken and maybe some more explosive tags. She found a skirt the same color, and though it was much shorter than the one on her dress, she didn’t care. It would look nice and it was reinforced against chakra, so it would last a while ! At least she hoped. She would still have to wear a pair of shorts under it, though--just due to the fact that the skirt was light enough to move. 

 

She decided she would find her gloves, shin guards and belt at the store where she would be getting her kunai and shuriken from. They would have better stuff like that, right? She wandered into the shop, looking at all the spiky, new swords--were those maces--? She was drawn out of her musings as someone cleared their throat at the register. 

 

Her head snapped to them faster than someone could say ‘hey’. The person behind the register was relatively young, maybe in their twenties--they had thick glasses, while their left eye held a long, thin scar--their other eye was an unnerving light blue-grey. Their hair was short and such a dark brown that it was nearly black. A headband rested around their neck and Sakura shifted, slightly uncomfortable.

 

“What do you need? You look lost.” The person’s voice was slightly apathetic, and their body language was disinterested. She couldn’t tell if they were male or female--their voice wasn’t unpleasant..just very androgynous. 

 

“I’m looking for some.. Gloves that I can use with chakra..and some new boots or shin guards...and a belt. My usual stuff is old and I need some new stuff..I’m going to finish my Chunin exam..”

The person’s eyes lit up, “Well, pinkie, I have some stuff for you.” They walked around the register and motioned for Sakura to follow--which she did,  and Sakura was taken to the very back of the store. 

 

“Let’s start with the gloves. You want the full hand, fingerless, what kinda style are you looking for?” The person bent and was pulling out several different types--colors-- was that lace? 

 

“Maybe black..? And full-hand.. And maybe long?” Sakura’s answers were sounding more like questions, and the person laughed. 

 

“Here, you can try them all. They’re just testers, these are actually special made, so they’ll take a few days, depending on the fit.” They reached Sakura the black, full-fingered long gloves.

 

She tried them on--and they felt nice. The material actually felt like her own skin--comfortable and breathable. Much better than the gloves she had at home. Even if they swam on her. “They’re made for adults, kunoichi-chan.” There was an amused lilt to their voice, but Sakura almost pouted.

 

“My name is Sakura,” She grumbled.

 

“My name is Akira, Sakura-chan, pleasure to make your acquaintance.”

 

Even their name didn’t give a hint! Sakura smiled, “Thank you, Akira-san.”

 

They just handed her the next set of gloves and took her measurements with an amused shake of their head. They went through several different pairs--and Sakura finally decided on the long, fingered gloves in black. Black went with everything, right? And then, they moved on to the boots..and shin guards.

 

“We actually have boots that have shin guards made into them, if you don’t want to buy them separately,” Akira added, putting down a few different colors, she put them in front of Sakura and Sakura asserted, “I want black.. I want everything to match.”

 

Akira chuckled, “Gotcha.” They put up a couple and handed her two-- Sakura tried them both on, and she murmured, “I like the taller ones.. They feel more..secure.”

 

Akira was once again writing on their tiny notepad, and Sakura felt just a little out of place. “What kinda belt you lookin for?”

 

“Black.. I need something that I have enough room for trapping materials, paper bombs..maybe poison?” 

 

“I have two. One is just a regular belt. The other belt is made of two belts--they fasten together and then onto your clothes, so they don’t move in battle. The traditional belt has less room. They both have seals woven into them to keep them from weighing you down.”

 

“I want the one that has more room.” Who cared about looks when she would be able to carry everything she needed..and some of the things she didn’t. 

 

Akira’s eyebrows rose and they took the measurements at Sakura’s waist. “Come to the front and we’ll see how much you got on your tab.” Akira limped away after they were done and Sakura meekly followed. When they finally got to the register, Sakura added, “I want some more kunai, shuriken, and paper bombs, too.”

 

Akira made another notation in their notebook.

 

The quotation on the price made Sakura pale. That was so much--it would take literally everything she saved up! But..she did need them. She couldn’t exactly be using substandard gear, right?

 

“These materials have a year’s warranty, Sakura-san. If for any reason they break, unravel, get destroyed..you get the idea, you have a full replacement.” Akira obviously took note of Sakura’s expression--and they leaned up against the counter again, their apathetic face back as they took the rest of Sakura’s money.

 

“All of this will be done some time in the next four days. Can I have an address to deliver to?”

 

Sakura rattled off her address on instinct and she blinked. That was a little...strange. “Usually I don’t get deliveries.”

 

“It’s worth the wait. I’ll start on these today, but they should be done by tomorrow night if I don’t get any more orders today. It’s unlikely I will because I close the front shop in.. five minutes.” Sakura blushed lightly--was she keeping them late?

 

“Go enjoy the rest of your day, kunoichi-chan.” They winked. “I’ll take the rest over.”

 

Sakura nodded and left.

 

The next two days were busy--between her studying, getting her new materials delivered and finally putting everything together--she was exhausted. And then, she would have to deal with Anko. Great. The next morning she woke--Anko hadn’t given her a specific time, so she got up early and brought a few of the library books with her, tucked into one of the pouches of her new belt. She stopped herself, looking into the mirror before she left, and she untucked her headband from behind her hair and fixed it to her forehead. She was serious now. 

 

She loved her new clothes, though. The new materials were definitely a step above what she was wearing during the preliminaries. She definitely felt safer--more prepared. That was the first step done, at least.

 

Sakura arrived just as the other students were, so she just found herself wandering to the training grounds. She walked up one of the trees using her chakra and fixed herself to one of the branches while she continued reading a book on chakra types and different exercises based on elemental manipulations. She would eventually have to learn which element she favored--but what was interesting about the book was the fact that they mentioned both Yin and Yang release. Weren’t those too tricky to do? Why were they mentioned.

 

She nearly screamed when Anko dropped down onto the branch next to her and tapped her shoulder. “I’ve been in the branch above you..watching you read for fifteen minutes. You need some spatial awareness, kid.” She flopped down onto the branch next to Sakura.

 

Sakura gulped. Damn.

 

“So, we’re gonna work on your taijutsu today. You need to learn something other than the academy basics and you’re kinda small and weak so we gotta strengthen you up.” Anko shoved her off the branch and jumped down next to her. “No chakra. We’re gonna work on strict taijutsu today--so we’re gonna play a game. I’m gonna throw these at you. And you’re gonna dodge.”

 

Anko held up throwing knives. Sakura gulped. What did she get herself into?

 

“Fine, Anko-sensei.” Sakura said.

 

Anko was brutal. The knives clinked off each other--slashing and hitting her, just skimming over the few places of exposed skin. She had a particularly long slash over her back, just above where her shirt ended. Damn it--she wished she could move faster. This was an endurance test, so it wasn’t like she would be able to use all her stamina now. “Kid, I thought you were better than this.”

 

Sakura snarled. The next barrage, she managed to completely avoid. However, she was getting exhausted too quickly. It was infuriating. Finally, Sakura collapsed after Anko ran out of knives.

 

“Kid, hope you brought lunch. It’s time for a break.”

 

“I’m gonna get dango.” And she disappeared in a swirl of leaves. Sakura dragged herself to a small food stand and grabbed some onigiri made with umbeboshi, ate and then washed it down with a large bottle of water. It didn’t take her very long to eat it, but she still went back and began reading. It was a nice break--and when Anko came back, Sakura made sure to be standing in the middle of the small field, ready. She was definitely more composed now.

 

“Alright, kid. Let’s teach you some taijutsu. I think that was a good warm up, don’t you?”

 

“You’re a sadist.” Sakura muttered.

 

Anko gave a full-laugh, grinning, “You have no idea, Sakura-chan.”

 

“Copy me, kid. I’m gonna be teaching you how to use the enemy’s body and momentum against them. You’re not strong enough to beat them with physical strength, so your taijutsu will have to reflect that.”   
  


Sakura only managed to displace Anko once after actually learning a few moves. Still, it was progress, right? She was so exhausted, and as she picked herself off the ground again--she managed to shove Anko into the ground face-first. “Good job, kid. You’re gettin it.”

 

Anko stood up and dusted herself off, “We’re done for today. Meet in the same place tomorrow. Expect the same treatment. Make sure to eat and take care of yourself after, kay?” And Anko was gone in a blink of her eye.

 

Sakura dragged herself home, made herself eat dinner, and poured a bath for her aching muscles. She knew it would be rough, but not this rough. She would finish this treatment, she decided. She would have to. If she wanted to be a chunin and a real member of team seven. 


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait! I've been rather busy the past 2 weeks with personal things so I hope you enjoy this (late) chapter!

The next morning Sakura woke to so much pain--all her muscles were screaming at her at once, so she knew that today would be so much worse than yesterday. She showed up at the same spot that she met Anko yesterday--and she hoped that the woman wouldn’t be too long at whatever she was doing. She wanted this done and over with, thank you. But still--it was taking a while for Anko to show up..she had been waiting for about an hour when she got bored and decided to work on her chakra control. Tree-walking was more than easy for her and the repetitive task set her mind at ease, at least until Anko showed up with no notice and she nearly slipped off the tree in shock.

 

“Whatcha doin...Sakura-chan?” The woman hung upside down above her, her eyes filled with complete and total mirth as she folded her arms over her chest. Anko: 1, Sakura: 0. Sakura vowed to get her back. Eventually.

 

“Just practicing my chakra control. It’s a good warm-up,” she explained.

 

“So you got bored.” Anko rolled her eyes.

 

“Yeah,” Sakura admitted, “I showed up a little too early.”

 

“Get down there, I’m doing the same thing with the knives again today. Do your worst, kid.”

 

Sakura’s eyes narrowed and dodged quickly, doing her best to keep her pace even. This was an endurance test, it would be over when it was over..but she couldn’t push herself to complete exhaustion. She still had other lessons to learn afterwards--at least a taijutsu lesson. Sakura’s taijutsu lesson was simple again--more of a stretch than an actual lesson--and she was sent on her way home.

 

They did the same thing for two weeks--they met at the same spot, worked on her endurance and her taijutsu--until one night Anko stopped her before she left. “Yo, Sakura--meet me at the hot springs tomorrow--I have something to teach you there.” And then Anko was gone and Sakura was rolling her eyes. If Anko wanted a break she could have just said something, but it wasn’t like the other woman to tell her anything of value outside of their training. And Sakura had started improving--she wasn’t quite as winded at the end of her training sessions or exhausted, so it was working. She could definitely see and feel the difference. It was like night and day to her--even if Anko was genuinely pushing her now. 

 

Sakura packed her bathing suit--a tie for her hair--and found herself at the hot springs. “Hey girlie,” Anko grabbed her shoulder and she jumped. She was beginning to think that Anko enjoyed sneaking up on her--if the quiet chuckles she got from her was anything to go by, “I rented one for us over here--” Anko pointed at one of the gates, all the way in the back. Wasn’t it expensive to rent one for an entire day? Regardless, she followed Anko and they slid the wooden gate shut behind them..and Sakura looked at her expectantly.

  
  


“Kid, don’t worry about it--it’s fine.” Something must have shown on Sakura’s face for that admonishment to be so fast. 

 

“And ya know, you don’t have to be such a damn sponge all the time. You can not pay attention for like...I don’t know.. A second.” Regardless of Anko’s prickliness and complaints, she was a patient, attentive teacher and Sakura found herself kind of admiring the woman that completely made her balk at the beginning of the chunin exams.

 

“Today you’re gonna be walking on water. It’s kinda like walking on trees, but with water. It’s the next step up and any ninja worth their salt can do it without thinking about it. If you’re having issues with this, then it’s unlikely that you’re gonna learn any of the jutsu I was thinking about teaching you.”

 

Sakura stood up a little straighter--so Anko was going to teach her a jutsu? She would have to master this quick, then. 

 

“And then we’ll add our usual taijutsu exercises to the water-walking exercises we’re doing today, so, you better be good at it.”

 

Wasn’t she just admonishing her about taking everything so seriously? Her eyes narrowed. She would do this--and do it well. It was a chakra exercise, right? And she was good at those--at least she was in the academy and with the one that Kakashi-sensei taught them. “So you’re gonna focus your chakra to create surface tension on the water for you to step. It doesn’t take very much but it takes decent concentration, at least in the beginning.”

 

Sakura sighed and looked at the water--and hot molecules move faster than cold ones--according to the science she knew. So this would’ve been harder for her to do, rather than going to a still pond. Ugh, she couldn’t catch a break, could she? Regardless, she changed into her bathing suit--a green bikini--and stepped out with one foot onto the water. She moved her chakra to her feet, and tried to get the water to become still--to create that tension--and it did. She put a little weight on that foot and felt herself sink down into the water--and stepped back onto the land. So maybe a little more chakra than that? 

 

She managed to stand on the water about ten seconds before she fell in this time. But it was possible--that was what mattered. She repeated the exercise maybe twelve times before she could easily walk around on the water, but it would take more practice to make it second nature. At least she knew she could do it--and it was just a question as to how much more she could do before she ran out of chakra.

 

And then Anko started throwing the knives at her. She stumbled and fell under several times, but by the end of the training she was exhausted, she’d learned something new and was performing it well--she wouldn’t consider herself proficient, she just could do it well enough to barely pass. “I suppose that’s enough for today, Sakura-chan.”

 

And Sakura exhaustedly let her control go and leaned against the side of the spring, relaxing in the water. “I’m so tired..” It came out a half-annoyed breath.

 

“C’mon, kid. You can’t expect a complete turn-around so fast, huh?” Anko’s eyes regarded her seriously for a moment. 

 

“That’s true,” Sakura agreed quickly. She had to admit that she wasn’t quite as sore or exhausted as she was when she first started. 

 

“Look at it this way, Sa-ku-ra...you’re expanding your chakra stores. I’m gonna show you a few cool jutsu to use in the exam closer to exam day though. So don’t get too excited.”

 

Sakura chuckled. The warm water was doing wonders for her muscles..but what she really wanted was sleep. However, she waited for Anko to leave and followed suit, but instead of walking home she took the path over the rooftops, swiftly and silently making it back in a few moments instead of the long walk home. She preferred it that way, actually. She would do it more often..

 

And thus, she ate dinner and then went to bed.


End file.
